


memories on repeat

by flamebirds



Series: one shots [5]
Category: Batwoman (Comic)
Genre: Angst, Angst without a happy ending, Batfam Week 2020, Convenient Alien Invasion, Not So Vague Allusion To Batwoman (2011), Overprotective, Some Vague Allusions To Detective Comics (2016), This got kinda sad & I didn't mean it to, whoops?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23084668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamebirds/pseuds/flamebirds
Summary: She doesn't want to see Bette hurt again ━━ she can't ━━ and every time she goes out, she sees it happening again, over and over and over.
Relationships: Kate Kane & Bette Kane
Series: one shots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901311
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8
Collections: Tales from the Cave





	memories on repeat

Bette has proved herself to be more than capable over and over again. She might still be a little impulsive, flying into fights without a second thought, but she's _good,_ a hell of a lot than anyone _(than Kate)_ ever gave her credit for.

That doesn't stop the worry.

Bette throws a high-kick at the parademon's face, not hesitating for a single second, every movement fluid and flowing into the other. She fights like it's a dance; each move follows a beat, a song playing that nobody else can hear.

Batwoman's elbow slams into the one behind her and she tries to focus on her own targets, but ━━

But she's always looking at Hawkfire out of the corner of her eye, heart hammering in her chest. She's nervous when Bette goes up against somebody like Cluemaster and here she is, fighting alongside the Justice League in an alien invasion. There are so many ways for her to get hurt and Kate sometimes worries that's not properly healed up. Bette doesn't think she's noticed, but Kate sees it when she traces the scar just below her diaphragm, when her breathing starts to be off.

She still remembers it. Visiting Bette in hospital, seeing her so lifeless and wrong. No matter what, Bette's always moving, whether it's tapping her fingers against something or punching the villain of the week in the face. Seeing her so immobile, so lifeless is an image that she can't get rid of, no matter how she's tried.

Ever since the Hook, Kate has promised herself she'll keep a better eye on her baby cousin and when one parademon gets a little too close, sharp claws drawing a little too near her cousin's abdomen, her heart stops.

Bette's perfectly capable and an amazing vigilante and Kate's seeing her in her old suit, seeing her skin as pale as the moon, seeing her covered in her own blood and barely holding on and _she's going to lose her she's going to lose her family she's going ━━_

She's slamming her foot into the parademon before she can stop herself and drawing out two Batarangs. She doesn't want to see Bette hurt again ━━ _she can't_ ━━ and every time she goes out, she sees it happening again, over and over and over.

Her baby cousin has looked up to her for years and when she needed her most, Kate wasn't there and that will _never_ happen again.

There's a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away from the monster that wanted to her protege, her responsibility, her family, and Batwoman shrugs it off harshly. It's probably Bruce, worrying about his _'loose-canon'_ cousin, not understanding the difference between them. Kate Kane is a soldier, through and through, and she knows when you have to take the kill-shot.

But then that hand comes back and this time, she looks at it. It's not connected to a black gauntlet or a haunted man; the gauntlets are orange and they lead to a blonde girl, a blonde woman, glaring at her. There are times when Kate forgets that her cousin has been doing this much longer than her, seen more than anybody is aware of; this is not one of those times.

This is the time where Bette looks murderous, fiery and furious, living up to her name, to _all_ of them.

 _"I've got this",_ Hawkfire hisses. "For once in your life, Batwoman, just _trust me."_

The words sting and she lets the parademon fall to the ground. "Flamebird, I ━━"

Bette flinches back from the name the second it falls from her lips and the stirrings of regret start to bubble in her chest immediately.

"Just go", she says, voice scarcely above a whisper. _"Please."_

She pulls back, the crack in her cousin's voice playing on repeat in her mind. They're supposed to be doing _better_ than this, trusting each other more in the field.

No, that's wrong. _She's_ supposed to be trusting Bette more. Bette has always trusted her to have back, even on the days she hasn't, even after it cost her so dearly. 

She failed her cousin that night and it feels like she's failing her again, every time she swoops in. Bette's careless and reckless and any time she sees a sign that somebody might injure her (that somebody might finish the job that Hook started), red takes over and she won't stop, she can't stop, until whatever almost hurt Bette is gone.

And as she watches her fighting in perfect sync with Nightwing, in a way that they never truly achieved, she realizes that every time she steps in, she pushes Bette one inch further away.

Maybe it's for the best. Maybe, if Bette is far away from the bullshit that is her life, she'll be safer.

Maybe, if she never met Kate, her life would be better.


End file.
